Heating and air conditioning system



Jan. 10, 1967 M. w. WHITE HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM FiledSept. 10, 1964 Maurice W While .Illlll lI-llllilu Patented Jan. 10, 19673,296,815 HEATING AND AIR CONDITIGNING SYSTEM Maurice W. White, Medford,()reg., assignor to Frigid- Heat Corporation, a corporation of UregonFiled Sept. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 395,400 2 Claims. (Cl. 62-118) Thepresent invention generally relates to a heating and air conditioningsystem that is particularly adapted for heating and air conditioningspaces having a heat load such as supermarkets, stores and the likehaving individual refrigeration systems with condensing unitsincorporated therein which give up heat to the space. The presentinvention involves a novel method of removing heat from such storecondensing units with the present invention further providing a systemhaving an operating range on its heat removal for store refrigerationunits whereby the owner or operator of the store will realize greaterefficiency from his refrigeration equipment.

In an average supermarket or food store, there is a heat rejectioncapacity from display cases, storage coolers and the like normally inexcess of 400,000 B.t.u.s per hour. In the interest of efliciency, it isdesirable to make use of this heat if economically possible.Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to use this heat.Further, in most all supermarkets, it is also necessary to have heatingand air conditioning. In systems where supermarkets have a gas firedheating system, an oil fired heating ssytem or some other method ofheating, the air conditioning compressor sets idle for several months ofthe year. In some areas, the air conditioning compressor will be idlefor six to eight months of the year. In the present invention, the storeair conditioning unit is incorporated into the air conditioning systemas an auxiliary heating system so that when the store space is beingheated with the normal warm condensing water from the condensing unitsof the display cases and the like and the outside temperature is quitelow, the store space air conditioning unit is brought into use in areverse or heat cycle to take additional heat from the condenser waterof the condensing units of the display cases and the like. Thus, thepresent system provides a substantial heat output and at the same time,the store owner or operator gains constant operating pressures the yeararound for his store space air conditioning system thereby reducingcompressor maintenance to a minimum.

Thus from the foregoing, it will be understood that one of the objectsof the present invention is to provide a heating and air conditioningsystem particularly adapted for use in supermarkets that is efiicient inoperation, de-

pendable and long lasting, relatively inexpensive to install andeffective to reduce the over-all cost of heating and cooling asupermarket, food store or the like.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of the heating and air conditioning systemof the present invention with the heating and air conditioning unitbeing separated into two units for clarity, it being pointed out thatthese two units are actually in one package; and

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken generally u on a plane passing alongsection line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating that the two units aredisposed in one packwith the units at the right hand of FIGURE 1 beingdisposed alongside of each other as illustrated in FIGURE 2. Referringnow specifically to the drawings, the heating and air conditioningsystem of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral10 and is disposed exteriorly of a building whose wall is schematicallyillustrated at 12 and this wall may be either the ceiling or wall of astore or supermarket. Disposed interiorly of the wall 12 within thestore space, there is provided a heat exchange coil unit 14 having a fan16 associated therewith for circulating air through or over the heatexchange coil 14 within the store space. The particular details ofconstruction of the various components of the present invention areconventional in and of themselves except where otherwise specificallydefined. In this instance, the coil unit may be of any suitablestructure such as a finned tube-type having any suitable housing orshroud and any suitable mechanism for supporting the same.

The evaporative condensing unit is illustrated in FIG- URE l in twosections as a right hand section 18 and a left hand section 20 whichwhen joined together form a single unit as illustrated in FIGURE 2. Inthe upper end of each part of the condenser unit there is provided awater coil 22 having a plurality of spray heads 24 orientated thereoverthat are communicated with a spray water pump 26 by a water line 28 withthe pump 26 having a suction line 30 extending into the interior of thecondenser unit above an inner bottom 32 which collects the water fromthe spray heads or nozzles 24 with a float valve 34 being provided formaintaining a predetermined water level 36 within the upper compartmentdefined by the inner bottom 32. Thus, water may circulate from the sumpdefined above the inner bottom 32, through the pump 26 and through thespray nozzles 24 over the coils 22 and back into the sump in an obviousmanner.

Disposed below the inner bottom 32 is a refrigerant coil 38 disposedbetween an outer bottom 40 and the inner bottom 32 in a lowercompartment. This compartment extends beyond one end of the uppercompartment into a substantially L-shaped area 42 and a heat sensingbulb 44 is provided therein adjacent the refrigerant coils 38. A waterpump 46 has a suction line 48 communicated with the lower end portion ofthe compartment receiving the refrigerant coils 38 and has a dischargeline 50 connected with the water coil 22. The compartment 42 is providedwith a water filler tube 52 communicated therewith and the water coil 22has a water line 54 extending into a condensing unit 56 with a waterservice valve 58 being incorportated therein. A magnetically operatedvalve 60 is employed in the water line 50. A by-pass line 62interconnects the lines 50 and 54 with a magnetic valve 64- beingincorporated therein so that water pumped by the pump 46 may either passthrough the coil 22 or by-pass the coil 22 for entry into the condenserunit 56. Also, the condensing unit 56 is provided with a water line 66having a by-pass line 68 connected thereto and provided with a magneticvalve 70 so that water may pass from the condensing unit 56 back throughthe pipe 52 into the compartment 42 or pass on to the heat exchange coilunit 14 and then return to the tiller tube 52 through a water line 72.

An air fan 74 is provided at one end of the evaporative condenser unitand this fan may be in the form of a conventional blower for circulatingair through the evaporative condenser unit for additionally cooling thewater heat exchange medium circulated by pump 26.

The refrigerant system includes a receiver tank 7 6 communicated with anexpansion valve 78 which discharges refrigerant to the refrigerant coil38 as controlled by the sensing bulb 44 or the like. A by-pass line 30having a check valve 82 therein is provided around the expansion valve78 and a refrigerant line 84 extends from the expansion valve 78 to thereceiver tank 76 with there being a service valve 86 incorporatedtherein for servicing the refrigerant system. Thus, from the receiver,the refrigerant may pass through the expansion valve into therefrigerant coils 38 in a conventional manner. Refrigerant is returnedfrom the evaporative coil 38 through refrigerant line 88 into a four-wayvalve 90 for communication through refrigerant lines 92 to the airconditioning condensing unit 94 which also has a refrigerant line 96extending back to the four-way valve 90 which enables the refrigerant tobe circulated through the refrigerant coil 33.

It is pointed out that the upper and lower half of FIG- URE 1 shouldactually be superimposed upon each other and the structure orarrangement of components as illustrated in both halves of the devicewith the upper half being primarily concerned with the water circulationwhile the lower half is primarily concerned with the refrigerantcirculation.

In describing the system, attention is directed initially to the upperpart of FIGURE 1 relating to the heating system in which the pump 46circulates warm water through line 50 to the valve 60 which enables thetower to be bypassed if the water is not hot enough for the tower to beused. At that time water either goes through the coil 22 or it can beby-passed into the water line 54 through the valve 64 and by-pass line62 directly into the condensing unit 56. There may be as many asseventeen or eighteen condensing units 56 and at this point, the watertakes on heat from the condensing units 56 in a conventional manner. Ifat that time, heat is called for in the store, the heated water passesthrough line 66 into the room heat exchange unit 14 and thence backthrough line 72. However, if heat is not called for in the store space,the heated water is by-passed through magnetic valve 70 and by-pass line68 where it is discharged back into the sump or compartment 42 on thebottom of the closed circuit tower for heat exchange engagement with therefrigerant coils 38.

If heat in addition to that which can be supplied by the storecondensing units 56 is required, the condenser unit 94 of the airconditioning system comes on in a reverse cycle or heating cycle andheats water in the sump 42 by virtue of the hot refrigerant gas passinginto the refrigerant coil 38 without passing through the condenser andexpansion valve. Thus, the water which is heated in compartment 22 maybe pumped through the store coil unit 14 in the same manner as discussedin conjunction with the water which was heated by the condensing unit56. When the outside temperature gets above 15 F., the compressorcondenser unit 94 in the air conditioning system will cut offautomatically by suitable control mechanism and the total heating isthen done by condenser water only which is heated by the condensingunits 56. In a considerable number of localities, total heating can bedone by the condensing units of the storage cabinets, cooling cabinetsor the like designated at 56 thus making the store operators heatingcost very low with the total cost being operation of the fan 16.

The air conditioning system which provides heat to the compressorcondenser unit 94 is a normal arrangement including a reversing valveand becomes a chiller in the .summer when air conditioning is needed.The specific part of the present invention which renders it novel is themethod of pumping warm water from the sump under the closed circuittower to one circuit of the store unit 14, removing the heat from thatwater by the circulating fan 16 and then returning this same water backto the opposite side of the sump and removing additional heat byrefrigeration and then heating the circulated water on the other side ofthe bottom sump for heating the second circuit of the room coil unit 14which is schematically illustrated in FIGURE 1 with the lines leading tothe second unit being designated by numerals 98 and 100.

Thus, by using the air conditioning compressor and condensing systemduring normal periods of non-use, compressor maintenance is reduced andby operating the air conditioning compressor, condenser evaporative unitin a reverse cycle as a heat pump will produce additional heat with thisoutput of heat being substantially increased by feeding heat into thelow side of the condensing unit.

An alternative method of procedure would involve using the waterreturned in line 72 from the heat exchange coil unit 14 and eitherheating or cooling, depending on cycle, refrigerant which in turn ispumped through line 98 to refrigerant oil which replaces existingsecondary water coil in store unit. In such an arrangement, anadditional water pump would be added to pump water from sump 42 to storecoil unit 14. This procedure would involve replacing refrigerant coil 38with a coil located in sump 42. This coil would be utilized for heatingcycle. This procedure would eliminate all magnetic by-pass valves andthe pump would be operated thermostatically.

In considering the detailed disclosure and the modification thereof, anddisclosed construction, warm water that is heated from the storecondensing unit that is used in refrigeration systems for storagecabinets which are cooled, freezer cabinets and the like is conveyed tothe interior of the store for giving up heat to the interior of thestore. When the outside temperature reaches a determined minimum, theair conditioning system for the store is operated in reverse cycle. Theheated circulating water which has passed from the heat exchangerassociated with the store condensing units and then passes through theheat exchanger in the store itself has residual heat which is capturedor utilized by the evaporative coil of the air conditioning system whichis in reverse cycle thus giving up heat to the evaporative coil forrendering the reverse cycle of the air conditioning system moreefficient in operation and enormously increasing the output thereof sothat the store may be effectively heated by the heat produced by thecondensing units for the cooling cabinets in the store and also by heatproduced by the air conditioning system in reverse cycle therebyenabling waste heat to be effectively employed and also to enableexisting air conditioning equipment that would normally be idle to beeffectively employed for heating the store.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. The method of heating and air conditioning a building such as a foodstore or supermarket having cooling devices therein employing arefrigeration system and producing a heat rejection load consisting ofthe steps of collecting the rejected heat load in a heat exchange mediumat a point exteriorly of the space in which the heat rejection load isproduced, conveying the heat exchange medium to the space in which theheat rejection load was produced, passing the heat exchange mediumthrough a heat exchange coil in the space, and passing air over the heatexchange coil for heating the space in which the heat rejection load wasproduced.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 together with the steps of operatingan air onditioning system for the building in reverse cycle whenexterior temperature reaches a predetermined low temperature, andconveying the air cooled heat exchange medium from the heat exchangecoil in the space in which the heat rejection load was produced to theevaporator of the air conditioning refrigeration system having anevaporator and condenser operating in a reverse cycle thereby enablingthe condenser of the reverse cycle air conditioning system to have ahigher heat output,

and adding the heat output of the reverse cycle air conditioning systemto the heat exchange medium.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Clancy 62-434 X10 6 Stair 165-50 X Ellenberger 62-97 X Parcaro 62-160 X Ringquist62-159 X Quick 62-113 X Siewert et a1 62-160 LLOYD L. KING, PrimaryExaminer.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner.

1. THE METHOD OF HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING A BUILDING SUCH AS A FOODSTORE OR SUPERMARKET HAVING COOLING DEVICES THEREIN EMPLOYING AREFRIGERATION SYSTEM AND PRODUCING A HEAT REJECTION LOAD CONSISTING OFTHE STEPS OF COLLECTING THE REJECTED HEAT LOAD IN A HEAT EXCHANGE MEDIUMAT A POINT EXTERIORLY OF THE SPACE IN WHICH THE HEAT REJECTION LOAD ISPRODUCED, CONVEYING THE HEAT EXCHANGE MEDIUM TO THE SPACE IN WHICH THEHEAT REJECTION LOAD WAS PRODUCED, PASSING THE HEAT EXCHANGE MEDIUMTHROUGH A HEAT EXCHANGE COIL IN THE SPACE, AND PASSING AIR OVER THE HEATEXCHANGE COIL FOR HEATING THE SPACE IN WHICH THE HEAT REJECTION LOAD WASPRODUCED.